Apparatus for securing a resilient tread to the bottom surface of flexible footwear



Nov. 17, 1953 G. v. WALLS 2,659,094

APPARATUS FOR SECURING A RESILIENT TREAD TO THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF FLEXIBLE FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 27, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 1 George M PVdl/S .4 TTOPNEV Nov. 17, 1953 G. v. wALLs 2,659,094

APPARATUS FOR SECURING A RESILIENT TREAD TO THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF FLEXIBLE FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 27, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. George M Mf /ls 4% og/w A 7' TOP/VEV Patented Nov. 17, 1 953 APPARATUS FOR SECURING A RESILIEN'I. TREAD TO THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF FLEXIBLE FOOTWEAR George V. Walls, Littleton, Colo.

Application August 27, 1947, Serial No. 770,822

2 Claims. (01. 12-332) The present invention relates to apparatus for securing a resilient tread to the bottom surface of flexible footwear. It has to do particularly, although not exclusively, with apparatus of a portable nature for securing a rubber sole or heel onto a boot or shoe having a flexible top.

Heretofore, boots, overshoes, rubbers, and other footwear have been rendered useless, and in most instances are discarded, after the sole and/or heel became worn down and smooth or contained wear holes. This condition has caused an enormous waste since, in most instances, the uppers of the footwear having worn soles and/ or heels have remained in good condition.

I It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus or means for securing cured rubber soles and/or heels onto the uppers of boots, shoes, etc. formed from fabric, rubber and fabric composition, rubber, or leather.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for securing onto the worn sole and/or heel of a flexible top article of footwear or onto the leather sole of an article of footwear, a cured rubber sole and/or a cured rubber heel, in which both the sole and the heel are provided with air sealed pockets or suction cups.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus wherein a cured rubber sole and/or heel may be secured to a flexible top article of footwear while at the same time and in the same apparatus, a cured rubber sole and/or heel may be secured onto the leather sole and/or heel portion of a leather boot, shoe, or other article of footwear.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus or device for securing a cured rubber sole and/or heel onto the leather sole and/or heel portion of a boot or shoe, easily and effectively within a short interval of time and with a low heat condition.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for securing cured rubber soles and heels onto shoes and. the like within a short interval of time and by the application of a relatively low degree of heat, in which the apparatus is provided with interchangeable sole and heel molds and interchangeable parts for transmitting pressure to the shoe or other article of footwear to which the sole and/or heel are being secured.

A further object of the present invention is to provide improved securing means of the foreapplied to the article of footwear during the bonding process may be applied in greater degree to either the toe end or the heel end of the article of footwear. I

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel pressure-applying means in which the flexible top article of footwear to which a cured rubber sole and/or heel are to be applied, is partially filled with a loose granular material, such as sand, which, because of its inherent nature, shifts and becomes compacted sufficiently to provide an extremely stiff or rigid support for the article of footwear undergoing the securing operation.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description and appended claims when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specication wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of securing means or apparatus embodying the present invention;

- Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a sole mold for use with the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a heel mold for use with the apparatus of Fig. 1; r

Fig. 4 is an assembly view, partly invertical section and partly in elevation, of a portion of the apparatus of Fig. 1 showing a rubber boot or overshoe in position during the operation of securing a cured rubber sole and heel thereto;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the pressure adapter shown in Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and '7 are perspective views, respectively, of the substantially U-shaped toe and heel pressure members shown in Fig. 4.

Before explaining in detail the present inven-' tion it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways.

It is to be understood also that the phraseology comprises a base portion 12 having a heating plate l3 within which or beneath which is an electric heating element (not shown) which is preferably of circular formation and of 1,000 watt-110 volt power.

A suitable wire or cable l4 serves to direct current from an outside source to the heating element. There is also provided a thermostatic control for regulating the temperature of the heating element. This thermostat is not shown but at Hi there is shown a thermal control switch for actuating it. A current control on and off switch I6 is provided at thefront of the base, as shown.

Extending upwardly from the base side portions is a substantially U-shaped metal. frame Y member, shown as a whole at I]. This frame member I! has side upright portions '18 and a substantially horizontal connecting portion 18 a which overlies the base. Threaded through suitable threaded openings and adjustable up and down with relation to the base, is a pair of adjusting screws 20 and 2| having, respectively, operating handles 20a and Na.

The heating plate 13 is adapted to receive and support two separateand independent shoe resoling and/or heel-applying units or assemblies, these assemblies being shown complete in Fig. 4. The assembly shown in 4 preferably comprises a mold 'zfihaving a series of pockets or. indentations a formed therein, a heel mold 25 also having indentations or pockets 25a formed therein. A cured rubber sole .2? having a series of air pockets 21a formed therein is preferably-placed, within the sole mold 25, as seen in-Fig. 4. i

A cured rubber heel .28 having air-sealed pockets or suction cups 280; formed therein is positioned within the heel mold 2&5. The cured rubber .sole '2! and the cured rubber heel 23, each having a plurality of air-sealed pockets or suction cups formed therein, form the subject matter of my co-pending application, Serial No. 718,357, filed December26, 1946, now Patent .No. 2,553,616 issued May 22, 1951 and are, therefore, .not disclosedmore fully. herein, nor claimed per se in the instant application.

;.In practice, a flexible top article of footwear,

such, for example, as a rubber'boot 29., has the cured rubber sole member 21 and the cured rubber heel member 28 provisionally cemented to its undersur-face -or sole and heel portions, whereupon the flexible. article and its attached sole and heel are positioned upon the molds 2.5 and 2-6, as clearly seen in Fig.4.

It is, of course, desirable-during the securing operation, to apply pressure to the article'of f-ootwear and its provisionally attached rubber sole and heel so as to :hold the parts properly in the at 30. Sand has -the desirable characteristic of becoming compacted into .a. relatively solid :or

rigid mass, and when placed in the boot, will-serve to-provide its lower portion, in efiect, with .a solid filler or last-like block or :core. Thus, any pres sureyapplied to the boot in the region of the filling material 30 will be transmitted to the sole and heel units and to their respective molds .and heating plate.

The adjustable pressure screw 29 is employed tq ap ply the necessary pressure'to the boot 29 during the securing operation. Preferably there is applied to the heel portion of the boot 29 a substantially U-shaped light-weight metal piece or pressure member 3i and to the toe or forward portion of the boot a generally similar, though somewhat larger, substantially U-shaped lightweight metal pressure piece or member 32. After the members 3| and 32 have beenapp'lied as clearly seen in Fig. 4, a metal pressure adapter, shown as a whole at 33, is slipped over the instep portion of the boot and overlies the pressure members 3! and 32. The pressure adapted 33 may be or any desired shape, but, as shown particularly in Fig. 5, comprises a pair of flat base portions 34 having depending lugs or extensions 35 at an end thereof. Upright portions or webs 36 extend substantially perpendicularly from the base portions 34, these vertical web portions being connected together by a horizontal portion or web 31. The horizontal web portion 31 is disposed at the end of the pressure adapter adjacent the depending lugs or feet 35. The horizontal web is provided with a bearing plate or block 38 preferably secured by screws 39 to the horizontal web and having, as shown, a pair of sockets or recesses 40 and 4| formed at its upper.

surface.

After the parts 3| and 32 have been assembled with the boot, the pressure adapter 33 is as.-

sembled with those parts to overlie them, that is portions of them, as seen in Fig. 4. If a superior force is to be applied to the forward portion of the boot, the socket 40 is brought into alinement with the screw 20 and the-screw is threaded down until its lower end firmly en gages in said socket'see Fig. 4. By tightening down the screw 20, the desired amount of pres sure may be transmitted through .the adapter: 33, substantially .U-shaped members 3i and 3.2,

and the body or mass of sand. 3'0 to the rubber sole and rubber. heel, the iss-amine plate to holdthe parts in the positions. shown,

during the securing operation.

If it is desired to appl a superior force orj pressure to .the rear portion of the boot 29, the

pressure adapter 33 is shifted from the position: shown in Fig. 4. so that the lower end. of the adjustable pressure-applying screw. 20 may seat in the recess Al. I The sand 33 serves as a rigid, though remove the cured sole 2? .and the cured heel 2.8 may he quickly and easily secured to the under-surface.

of the .boot .or over-shoe .29. It will be under stood that the parts disclosed 4 to 7, in.

elusive, may be positioned on the heating plate it so as to cooperate with either the left pres sure-applying screw 29 or the similar pressureapplying screw .2] shown at the right of Fig. .1.

While reference has been made to certain types of footwear, such, for example, .as rubberboots. overs'hoes, rubbers, .etc., the invention is.

equally well adapted for the .secur'ingontoany type or kind of footwear .in'the class known as flexible top footwear.

In the preceding description, the 'low heat .re-

quirement of the present invention has been de'- scribed. It should be understood that the initial cementing of the cured rubber sole .or heel unit, while establishing the proper position, does not per se provide the necessary bonding.

bonding is achieved primarily because of the equalized pressure distribution which is maintained throughout the relatively short heating interval. As a result the cured rubber article is caused to adhere to the article of footwear to such a degree that it will withstand long periods of rough usage without any lessening of the bond.

The provision of the air-sealed recesses in the sole and heel units is desirable for two reasons. In the first place, it creates a suction cup effect in holding such units on the original sole, and in addition provides a cushioning effect in Wear that absorbs shock or impact and also has heatinsulating value.

Since the soles and heels referred to herein are utilized as wear-resistant treads of the articles of footwear to which they are applied, the expression tread will be used in this specification as a generic term to designate either a sole or heel unit.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for securing a resilient tread on the bottom of footwear, comprising a heat conductive mold adapted to support said tread and said bottom in position on said tread, said mold having an upper surface conforming to the shape of the lower surface of said tread, a heating plate adapted to support said mold, means including a threaded clamp member for applying a uniformly distributed pressure on the upper surface of said bottom toward said mold, and said means also including a granular material partially filling said footwear, two U-shaped members encircling the lower portion of the upper of said filled footwear, a U-shaped clamp engaging both of said U-shaped members and overlying portions of both U-shaped members, said clamp having downwardly extending cleats to engage 6 the sides of one of said Li-shaped members, and a block on said U-shaped clamp having a pluralityof spaced depressions adapted to engage said threaded clamp member and vary the relative pressure on said U-shaped members.

2. Apparatus for securing a resilient tread having cup shaped depressions in the upper surface on the bottom of flexible footwear, comprising a heat conductive mold having depressions on its upper surface adapted to be aligned with the depressions formed in said tread, said mold being adapted to support said tread in position on said bottom with the upper surface of said tread in contact with the lower surface of said bottom, a heating plate adapted to support said mold, and means for applying uniformly distributed pressure on the upper surface of said bottom, said means including a supply of loose granular material partially filling the footwear, a pressure adapter shaped to encircle said bottom and embrace a major portion of the lower portion of the upper to transmit downward pressure, and screw means for applying downward pressure on said adapter.

GEORGE V. WALLS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 731,281 Case et a1 June 16, 1903 1,358,068 Ferguson Nov. 9, 1920 1,657,296 Bodle Jan. 24, 1928 1,930,367 Muscarella Oct. 10, 1933 2,061,206 Payne Nov. 17, 1936 2,129,437 Myers Sept. 6, 1938 2,285,398 Amico June 9, 1942 2,298,227 Pinkerton et al Oct. 6, 1942 2,330,989 Nevills Oct. 5, 1943 2,406,359 Doherty Aug. 27, 1946 

